Looking Forward to Grandma's

I have to do one last thing to settle my grandmother’s estate, and since we are traveling to and from St. Louis anyway, we thought we would ask Marie if she wanted the kids for a week. She does, and Tori, of course, was the first one to sign up! She has no qualms about going to Grandma’s, even if she had to go alone. Lucky for her, Christian has decided to come. He is looking forward to Legoland, while Tori can’t wait to see the aquarium. We are sending their birthday money with them so they can shop. As for Eli, the jury is still out. He says he is going but gets a little anxious when we tell him we won’t be there.

Speaking of birthdays, Tori has been planning her sleepover for months now. She has got all kinds of things in her little head as to what everyone can do. Christian, on the other hand, could care less. He did not want a party, just the kid next door to sleep over, until a few days ago. He decided he wanted a party/sleepover, and Huts and I have been hopping to get it together. We just sent out the invitations today—keep your fingers crossed that at least one kid can come!

In!

This week is Spirit Week at Charter Oak, and Tori is living it up. Monday, she wore a Hawaiian shirt for Hawaiian Day, Tuesday she wore a hat for Hat Day, Wednesday she wore totally mismatched attire for Fashion Disaster Day. Thursday she dressed like a teacher for Career Day and Friday she wore spirit wear for Spirit Day. She is having a ball! The week concludes on Friday with the carnival. Hopefully, Tori can last that long!

On another note, we have a play date next weekend with friends and their grand kids, and Tori is over the moon! She cannot wait to play with Jacey and has been asking me why it couldn’t happen sooner. She told me this morning she would have to play with her dolls this weekend to take her mind off the fun next weekend. She is such a hoot!

54 Lalaloopsy Dolls

Tori got a lot for Easter, another Monster High doll, plus a ton of mini LalLaLoopsy dolls. She now has every mini LaLa made, minus three holiday editions. The only thing left that she wants it a LaLa blanket for her birthday—Angry Birds blanket envy. Christian got a blanket, and now she wants one.

Tori played with Christian and his friend, Matthew, most of the weekend. She also went to see “Mirror, Mirror.” She colored and hunted eggs as well and helped me toss them into the gully for the raccoons to eat. She practiced more on her bike riding. She has got it down pat, minus the turning and getting herself off. She is working on that now, and you should see her, flying down the parking lot with the wind whipping through her hair and a big smile on her face. Eli ran into her and they crashed, but other than that, she has been doing well!

And She's Off

Unlike her brother, Tori is all excited about learning how to ride a bike. She has practiced considerably more and is about to get there. That’s our Tori girl. She tries, tries and tries again, giving it her all until she finally gets it. For two weeks now, she has been taking an advanced reading test every day in order to catch up and meet her goal. She has four tests this week, and if she meets her goal, we have told her she can have a little something. She is excited and ready to get her tests taken this week. She is also working hard on learning her spelling words. Every week, we practice and practice and practice some more. She is getting better at learning the words quickly. I admire her tenacity. Her kindergarten teachers used to tell us that they never worried about Tori because they knew she was going to get it, and they are right.

Sweet

Tori went to her brother’s scout banquet, and unlike her younger brother, she was sweet. She watched everything, asked some questions and told us she had a good time. She never fussed once, not even when it got boring or when the boys got to do things she couldn’t. She was a doll!

On another note, Tori has decided to try swim class again. She is also working hard to get all of her spelling words right this week. She is determined!

Valentine's Day Meltdown

Huts ran the party in Christian’s classroom this year, while I ran the one in Tori’s. Tori was happy to see me, but wouldn’t you know it, she was the last one to get a cupcake, and there were no more left with pink icing. The tears begin to flow from there, and it took some finagling to get her in a better mood. I had to remind her that she needed to help show her classmates how to make the monkey bookmarks. Eventually, she cheered up and everyone had a good time after that.

Did Tori love the waterpark last weekend? Absolutely! She was the last one out every time. Her poor little eyes were bloodshot from all of the chlorine, but she kept going and going. She also had a great time on the rides, one in particular that took her up high. I thought she was going to try the really scary ride that shifted you high in the air, around and around in circles. She thought about it but backed out at the last minute. Maybe next year.

Next week, Tori is showcasing her Lalaloopsy collection at school for an hour. I typed up a list of the doll names, and this weekend, we are deciding how many she is going to show. She has over 40 minis and 6 regular-sized dolls, not to mention all of the houses, cars, etc. There is a cultural theme this year, and the dolls work for that, as they are of different races and cultures. Wish us luck!

Shy GlobeTrotter Fan

Tori wasn't sure what to make of going to the Globetrotter's game.  Like Christian, she didn't know much about them either.  She liked the show, but her favorite part was half-time when local dancers came out and did flips, hula-hoops and tumbling.  When I asked her after we got home if she wanted to take a class to learn how to do that, she said no.  She's just as shy as her brother.


This was demonstrated the most during the game.  Flight Time came and wanted to sit by her.  At first she didn't scoot over and he almost sat on her, but I pulled her over in time so he could sit between her and the kid next to her (seen here - Best viewed as an image download).  Flight Time asked her name, she didn't answer, so I told him as Tori leaned farther away from him.  A few seconds later he asked if she could help him!  Tori could be part of the show!  What kid wouldn't want that?  Tori is that kid.  She said no, so Flight Time moved on down the aisle to another girl.  After Flight Time and the girls segment was over, I asked Tori if she wished she had done it and she still said no.  She could've skipped with them, gotten a ball and had them spin the basketball on her finger.  The little girl also ended up in the paper, but none of that mattered to Tori.  She was happy not participating.  


Like her brother Tori talked about the game for 2 days.  They talked the Before Care's supervisor's ears off.  It seems like it was a good experience all around and next time, I'm sure they'll enjoy it more.

Improving In So Many Ways

Tori is the Student of the Week this week. We found out before break, so it wasn’t much of a surprise. What is surprising is her vast improvement in skills. Her handwriting has improved tremendously, and she is catching on to her spelling words much faster. She is reading better, too, and she is now doing a lot of her homework on her own. By the time second grade rolls around, she should be much more self-sufficient as far as homework goes.

Tori's Best Gift

Tori loves all of her gifts, but her favorite seems to be the little purple alarm clock from Santa. Huts set it for her, and lucky for us, Tori uses it. She gets up, turns it off and gets dressed. No more having to wake her up. Unfortunately, we forgot to turn it off the day we got back and it woke her up bright and early on Saturday morning. Poor girl!

On another note, Tori has six dollhouses now, plus some smaller buildings, allowing her to nearly have her own town. We call it Toriville, but she hasn’t taken to that name yet. She’s got all kinds of dolls and critters residing in her town with furniture and cars of all types. The LaLaLoopseys are mixed in with the dolls, turtles, raccoons, etc. It’s pretty crazy and often turns into a huge mess—which she detests cleaning up. Huts and I have a great time sorting and putting things away.

All I want for Christmas

After weeks of bugging Tori about wiggling her teeth, they finally came out. She was eating an apple when they fell out, one after other, saving a trip to the dentist. Like her brother, she was scared it was going to hurt, but it didn’t, and now we are hoping she does better next time. Her permanent teeth were moving in already, right behind the baby teeth, so she won’t even have any gaps. She got $5 for her efforts, although she missed the tooth fairy—sneaky little fairy!

Tori is all set for Christmas, and her heart longs for another dollhouse. She’s got a town building up in her room! She and I have a date Friday night to watch Frosty with a bowl of popcorn. Maybe Christian and Eli will join us!

Mom's Boo-Boo

I messed up Tuesday morning and slit my hand. As I pulled a bag from an upper cabinet, my really sharp bread knife came with it. The result—six stitches to close up a gap at the base of my pointer finger. I kept the wound covered most of the day. When Tori got home, she noticed the bandage right away. I told her what happened and let her look at it. She was grossed out by the stitches and the dried blood, and she let me know it. She is also fascinated by it, however, as she keeps asking for a look at it. She says she wants to become a doctor, but I don’t know.

To Sleep Perchance to Stay Up Late

Generally Tori has been a bear in the mornings and a whiner at night before going to bed.  Recently she's begun to understand, the better she is the more privileges she gets.  This past 2 weeks, she's been allowed to stay up 30 minutes later to play at night during school because she has been getting up in a decent mood and not throwing a fit about it.  She's also improved in how fast she gets up.  It used to take us 15 minutes to get her up, dressed and out of bed, leaving not time for breakfast.  So she would eat breakfast at school.  The last couple of weeks, she's been getting up and dressed and able to eat breakfast before we leave.  It is a Christmas Miracle!  I don't know if she'll keep it up, but we hope she will.  She's also stopped whining about things so much.  She doesn't throw as many tantrums as she used to and is easier to put to bed.  Maybe she's growing up a little bit.

Party!

Tori was invited to a party this weekend, and she is VERY excited about it. She has mentioned it several times, and she has asked us time and time again when it is. It is Sunday afternoon, and we're guessing she will get up early and get dressed, although the party is not until noon! On another note, we got an I-pad, and the oldest two are all over it. They love using it, and I don't think Huts and I have been able to use it for more than half an hour. Tori especially loves the Crayola program on it and kicked off her day off school this morning doing that. No doubt Christian has played with it all day at home. They are tech savvy and they are not even in their teens yet.

Tired One

Tori was a spider queen, and she loved every moment. She went trick-or-treating twice, and when that was over, she checked out all of the trick-or-treaters at the door. She zipped around, eating candy until it was time for bed. One night of rest was not enough, however, and Tori went to bed very early on Tuesday night. She woke up this morning happy as a clam, ready for a day of school!